Labour admits paying for Starmer’s chief of staff to attend DNC

Matthew Doyle and Morgan McSweeney named in federal complaint from Trump’s team accusing Left-wing party of ‘interference’ in US election

Labour has admitted paying for Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff to attend the Democratic National Convention (DNC) amid a row over whether he advised Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Sources said the party had covered the cost of Morgan McSweeney’s visit to the US conference in August, following rumours he had held talks with Ms Harris’s team.
But the source insisted it was wrong to say that either Mr McSweeney or Matthew Doyle, Sir Keir’s director of communications, had assisted the Harris campaign in any way.
Both men have been named in a federal complaint from Donald Trump’s team accusing Labour of making “illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference in our elections”.
It comes after Labour Party staff organised a trip last week for almost 100 activists to campaign for Ms Harris in several critical battleground states.
In its formal complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the agency that oversees election laws, the Trump campaign cited reports that they had met with Ms Harris’ team.
However, Labour sources insisted neither Mr McSweeney nor Mr Doyle assisted or held any formal meetings with the Harris campaign. 
But it is understood they may have brushed shoulders at receptions on the fringes of the conferences.
They said Mr McSweeney’s costs were met by the Labour Party, while Mr Doyle was hosted by the Progressive Policy Institute, a Democratic think tank.
They also pointed out that Labour sends a delegation to the convention every time it is held.
Under federal election law, foreign citizens can campaign in the US providing that they are not paid and have no influence on decision-making by party operatives.
Labour has made a point of clarifying that any party activists canvassing for Ms Harris would have done so “at their own expense”.
Sir Keir has insisted that his relationship with Trump is not in jeopardy despite the complaint, which accused Labour of being a “far-Left” party that had “inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric”.
The Prime Minister said the involvement of party members volunteering for the Harris campaign was “really straight forward”.
Speaking on board the government plane as he travelled to Samoa for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders, he said: “The Labour Party has volunteers, have gone over pretty much every election.
“They’re doing it in their spare time, they’re doing it as volunteers, they’re staying I think with other volunteers over there. That’s what they’ve done in previous elections, that’s what they’re doing in this election and that’s really straight forward.”
Asked whether he feared the row would damage relations with Trump, he said “No. I spent time in New York with president Trump, had dinner with him, and my purpose in doing that was to make sure that between the two of us we established a good relationship, which we did.”
John Healey, the Defence Secretary, also dismissed complaints from Trump’s campaign about Labour activists supporting Ms Harris.
“This is in the middle of an election campaign, that’s the way that politics works,” he said.
He insisted that the row would not damage the UK-US relationship if Trump returned to the White House.
He said: “Any individual Labour supporters that are over in the US, being part of the Democratic election campaign, are there as individuals. They’re there in their own time. They’re there at their own expense, and if they’ve got accommodation out there that will be also provided by volunteers.
“This happens in every election. It’s commonplace. It is very different to the determination of a Labour Government to work with whoever the American people elect next month as their president.”
He said the “special, deep relationship” had “withstood the political ups and downs on both sides of the Atlantic and we are determined to make that work in future”.
A Labour Party spokesman said: “It is common practice for campaigners of all political persuasions from around the world to volunteer in US elections. Where Labour activists take part, they do so at their own expense, in accordance with the laws and rules.”